This follows on from Trip Report 4 which can be read here:
tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g154962-i754-k40…
After Labrador we spent 4 nights on the Northern Peninsula based in SNORRI CABINS in Straitsview (separate review). We built in an extra night here in case there were problems with the ferry from Labrador. We had wondered whether Hurricane Earl would affect us but in the end it swept up the coast of Labrador the following night.
Again I have split this review into two parts. This covers the drive from St Barbe to Straitsview through Conche and the day we spent around St Anthony area.
L’Anse au Meadows and Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve are covered in part 6.
It was another glorious day when we left St Barbe. We decided to take Highway 432 as this would give us chance to see some of the settlements along the French Shore. This took us across the middle of the Northern Peninsula through wooded upland country with lakes but no settlement. There were tracks off to loggers camps and we saw a bear amble across the road ahead of us. There were huge piles of wood alongside the road, all beautifully stacked and waiting to be collected by boxes on ‘skies’ beside them.
At Roddington we picked up the gravel road to Conche. There were no views (apart from trees) until we dropped down to SW Crouse and along the shore to CONCHE. This is a remote fishing village on a small peninsula with deep harbour running the length of the community. It suffered harsh isolation and all transport was by boat and dogsled until the road was built in 2005. It had grown up from a seasonal French fishing station and become a major site of French Shore fishing activities. Many former residents of the Grey Islands and Crouse moved here during the resettlement period in the 1960s. It has suffered a steady decline over the last few decades until recent efforts to market it as tourist destination by French Shore Historical Society.
Conche is a long spread out settlement along two roads which loop round the community. There is a small harbour with fishing boats catching cod (huge) and small lighthouse. There were some older houses with small fishing stores on the shore. We drove past the site of the the 1942 air crash in fenced off grassy area with the wreckage of a short-range bomber plane, Boston (Douglas DB-7). The navigator bailed out uninjured. The captain and radio operator crash landed the aircraft receiving minor injuries. The remains of the aircraft can be reached along a boardwalk. There are a number of walking trails over the headland and on a nice day you could spend several hours here.
After Conche, we decided to miss Croque and Grandois and hot foot it to L’Anse au Meadows to make the most of the sunshine as the forecast for the next couple of days was ‘iffy’.
Highway 432 was a fast road with no traffic. After Main Brook there were a lot of small fenced GARDEN PLOTS along the side of the road. We were told that the land is crown land and no rent is payable. Originally vegetables were grown around the house but people now prefer beautifully mown lawns. When roads were built the verges were disturbed and locals claimed ‘plots’ to grow vegetables. These could be quite a distance from their houses. Most plots contain potatoes as moose won’t eat these and they need minimum attention. If carrots or cabbages are grown, plots have to be fenced against moose. No-one else can claim that patch of land unless they are given permission from the ‘holder’.
There was a beautiful view of ST LUNAIRE GRIQUET as we came over the top of the hill with scattered white houses around a sheltered cove with low hills. DARK TICKLE SHOP on the way into St Lunaire Griquet has a good selection of jams and other wild berry products for sale. We bought a selection of the different jams to try but found that many contained too much sugar for our taste. Squashberry was our favourite.
The CAPE RAVEN TRAIL just north Straitsview makes a good walk. There is a small parking area at the side of the road and it is a steady climb on a well made gravel path up through trees with views across Straitsview and out onto the open hillside to a view point overlooking sea and cliffs and across the wooded mass inland with deep blue lakes. It was very windy and there were plenty of white horses out to sea.
Hurricane Earl moved through during the early hours of the next day and there was a lot of heavy rain. We woke to a dull morning with drizzle. We had made the right decision as L’Anse au Meadows would not have been much fun.
We decided to drive to ST ANTHONY. This was originally a French Summer Fishing settlement but by the mid 18000s it was lived in all year. Fishing is still important and there is a large well sheltered harbour catching mainly crab and shrimp. We watched men mending nets by the harbour.
There is a short HARBOUR NATURE TRAIL along the waterfront.
We drove to FISHING POINT for splendid views of the sea and spray. There was low cloud and it was very dull with the odd patch of sunshine moving across the hillside opposite and catching St Anthony Bight. We walked along the boardwalk of the ICEBERG ALLEY WALK but decided the wind was so strong and it might be dangerous to try and walk further. This was a shame as there were several way marked trails and there looked to be some good walking around the headland.
During the morning the rain eased and the clouds began to break. Rather than spend more time in St Anthony we decided to drive down to Goose Cove East. It was a nice drive across moorland with low trees and lots of bare rock. Again there were lots of small gardens along the side of the road protected by wooden fences and big piles of stacked wood.
GOOSE COVE EAST is a delightful small place with houses spread out along the bay. There was no shop and school was shut. The church shares a priest. There were some very old wooden wharves with wooden buildings on them which were gradually falling to pieces. Judging by the number of crab pots around there is still some crab fishing from here. By now it was turning into a glorious day, inspite of the wind. We parked at the end of the road and did the new boardwalk (PULMY COVE TRAIL) to a viewpoint at the tip of the peninsula and then circled back along the headland with waves crashing against the rocks. It was a very attractive rocky coastline of low cliffs with lots of inlets and small bays with a few scattered houses in some of them. This was a delightful place and well worth while visiting.
We then drove up coast the other way to GREAT BREHAT, a small fishing settlement of scattered houses separated by a big headland. At the end of the road there were steps and a boardwalk to FLAT HEAD. This gave good views back over the settlement and rocky coastline of bare rocks with low matt vegetation, mainly bakeapple and crowberry. It was still very windy with a good sea running. There was no other settlement visible along the coast - it was too exposed.
Then onto ST CAROLS, a small bay with a few houses and remains of a wooden harbour which had seen better days. The very short JOHN PATEY TRAIL is steps and boardwalk to the top of the cliffs with views back to St Carols and along the coastline. Another nice little walk.
We dropped down into ST ANTHONY BIGHT, the straggling settlement could see from Fishing Point. There were no obvious attractions and it wasn’t worth the detour.
